1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for exercising and strengthening muscles of the human body, in particular abdominal and hamstring muscles.
2. Technical Background
Abdominal weakness is a common problem. Physicians and personal trainers have advocated the use of the “sit-up” and/or exercise as a means of strengthening abdominal muscles. However, these conventional methods of sit-ups or crunches are ineffective and inefficient because they involve more of the hip-flexors than the abdominals. Conventional devices for exercising and strengthening abdominal muscles are inefficient because the effort expended by the users of such devices is predominately directed to exercising the hip flexor rather than strengthening the abdominal muscles. Furthermore, many conventional exercise devices overdevelop the hip flexors, particularly the iliopsoas, which can contribute to the pouching of the lower abdominal area.
Moreover, when a user attempts to do abdominal exercises, typically the user's knees do not remain stationary and either move up or down as the user is attempting to do a “sit-up”. Thus, the user's ankles move either upward and/or away from the user's buttock. Often, the user attempts to compensate for this by exerting muscular force to hold his or her feet down to the floor, or by having a second person hold the user's feet stationary while the user does the sit-up exercises. One exercise device that overcomes such problems is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,487, which issued on May 15, 2001 to Diamond, Jr. et al. and which is hereby incorporated by reference.
In addition to isolating the abdominal muscles from the hip flexors, it is also desirable to properly involve the hamstring muscles when performing abdominal curls, reverse curls and/or combined V-crunches. Contracting the hamstring muscles during abdominal exercises, when done properly, decreases the participation of the iliopsoas muscle and enables the increased participation of the rectus abdominis and the oblique muscles.
Thus, there is a need for an abdominal strength conditioning device that allows the user to also properly contract the hamstring muscles, without the assistance of an health care specialist, fitness expert, or spotter, when performing abdominal exercises such as the abdominal curl, reverse curl or combined V-crunch.
Additionally, not every user has the same level of strength or fitness. Moreover, the fitness level of any individual user may increase over time with the use of a strength conditioning device, such that fitness routines that were once difficult become easy and no longer provide a fitness challenge. Thus, there is also a need for an abdominal strength conditioning device that allows a user to vary the resistance levels associated with contracting the hamstring muscles and/or to increase conditioning levels by the placement of extra weights at strategic locations.
Furthermore, not every user has the same body dimensions and using a device that is too big or too small can lead to discomfort and even injuries. Thus, there is also a need for an abdominal strength conditioning device that can accommodate variations in different user's physical dimensions.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a muscle conditioning device for exercising and strengthening abdominal muscles which solves the aforementioned problems related to traditional sit-up exercises and addresses the deficiencies of conventional devices.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will in part be apparent from the drawings and the detailed description.